Alkan: Piano Concerto, Op. 39 / Concerti Da Camera

Description

He was christened Charles-Valentin Morhange, but later dropped the Charles, and, together with his five brothers and sister, took the name Alkan. All became famous musicians, one of his brothers, Napolén, teaching at the Paris Conservatoire for over 50 years. The young Valentin was a sensation when he won the Premier Prize for piano at the Conservatoire at the incredible age of 11, and the same prize in composition at the age of 14. His fame travelled far, and he was already a virtuoso concert pianist by the age of 14. At the age of 20 he visited London to outrageous acclaim. He became a close friend of Chopin, and he had the musical world at his feet. At the age of 25 something happened to him mentally, and he became increasingly introverted, rarely appearing on stage. He made a living as a private piano teacher, and when he did appear he invariably played the music of others.He was never to hold an official appointment, and between 1844 and 1873 probably gave only 10 concerts. Then in 1880 the situation reversed and he was giving concerts and recitals at the rate of two per week until he died in 1888. Most of his works were for piano, but he often seemed to lose interest once he had started work on them. We know he wrote a symphony which was subsequently lost, and he did write a little chamber music. Strangely for a concert pianist, it would appear that he did not compose at the keyboard, and therefore never wrote with the physical possibilities of the soloist in mind. Though he had a thorough training in harmony, he seemed to disregard his teachings and resorted to his own particular brand of tonalism. The result was music which oscillated between the innocent and the technically impossible. For one who lived a long life he produced quite little, and, as previously stated, almost all for solo piano. The chamber concertos for piano and orchestra come from his younger years, the second of which he transcribed for solo piano. The first dated 1831, in three linked sections, lasts for less than 15 minutes. The Second was composed two years later, again in three linked sections, but this time lasting only half the length of the First! The Third Concerto heard on this disc is, in fact, a reconstruction by Hugh Macdonald of an Andante which lasts for little over 5 minutes.The most substantial work is the 'Concerto'. It was originally written for solo piano, and is heard here in a version for piano and orchestra. Originally it was part of 20 Studies for Solo Piano, an extraordinary work written in minor keys. Two extensive sections Alkan described as 'Concerto' and 'Symphony', the 'Concerto' being in three linked sections. The orchestral part was added by Karl Klindworth, a prominent conductor in Berlin, and Wagner's most admired arranger of his orchestral scores for solo piano. The Concerto in its final revision being first performed in 1902. It should be pointed out that while Alkan saw and obviously approved Klindworth's work, his changes were